1. To understand what feedback means in teaching 2. To understand how feedback to students can affect their learning 3. To learn some effective ways of giving feedback so students become better learners 4. To learn some useful feedback phrases in English

1. What roles does feedback play for students learning? 2. How does feedback affect learning? 3. What, why and how should we praise and encourage children? 4. Why, what, when, how and who to correct errors? - some practical techniques for providing oral and written feedback.

The kind of feedback we give to our students and the way we give our feedback often not only contain messages or advice about learning but also carry a very strong emotional effect. Our students receive feedback in different ways according to their maturity. For example, young learners need vast quantities of praise and may find it difficult to accept criticism.

Look at the following classroom interaction: T: What food does your mother like? Lily? S: She like chicken T: No, not she like, she likes, say she likes chicken S: She likes chicken T: Good

How could the teacher send a different message? T: What food does your mother like? Lily? S: She like chicken T: Does she? (surprised) She likes chicken. So do I. Good. Thank you. S: (smiles)

Now look at the following dialogue T: What food does your mother like? Lily? S: She like chicken T: Really? Me too. And Tingting, what about your mother? S: She like chicken too. T: Good

All feedback affects students Students listen to feedback to decide how to continue (do I have a go or do I stop trying?) The feedback we give sends a clear message to the student. Some feedback can help learning Some feedback may block learning

Do you give a lot of praise to your students? When do you praise them? Why do you praise them? How do you praise them? Is there any problems that you find with your praise? Is there a difference between praise and encouragement?

We all agree that children need a positive and supportive environment for successful learning of a foreign language. Most teachers have showed such awareness in their teaching to try to use a lot of praise to encourage learning. However, recent research shows that some teachers over-praise without clear purposes and such praise may be counterproductive rather than encouraging. Therefore, we would like to give teachers some new insights into ways to make their statements of praise more effective and consistent with the goals we have for children, namely, to foster self-esteem, autonomy, self-reliance, achievement, and motivation for learning.

Over-use of praise lead to the fact that children learn to please the teacher. Over-use of material rewards make children dependent on rewards. Monotonous use of single word praise makes not much difference. Focusing on form not content. Overlooking individual differences. ….

T. I like chicken. What do you like? S1. I like chicken. T. Good. And you? (pointing at the next student) S2. I like chicken. T. Very good. What about you? S3. I like pizza. T. Super. Next. S4… T. I like chicken. What do you like? S1. I like chicken. T. Em, you like chicken, too. Good. Jinjin, What do you like? Do you like chicken, too? S2. Yes. I like chicken. T. Interesting! We all like chicken. Very good. What about you, Nancy? S3. I like pizza. T. Well, OK. You like pizza! S4…

Develop a variety of phrases of praise and techniques for praise; Make sure that you praise or give rewards for a clear purpose; Focus more on content once children can understand more language; Do not overuse praise as a classroom management tool. Focus on achieving smooth maintenance of the momentum of classroom instruction and activities. These are found to be the most powerful variable in controlling deviant behavior and maintaining student attention. Use less praise but more encouragement, especially when children grow older. …

Praise is usually given to a child when a task or deed is completed or is well done. Statements such as "You draw beautifully, Marc," or "Terrific job, Stephanie," are examples of praise.. They often place a judgment on the student, and give some indication of the student's status in the group. (Dreikurs and others,1982). Encouragement, on the other hand, refers to a positive acknowledgment response that focuses on student efforts. They offer specific feedback rather than general comments. For example, instead of saying, Terrific job, teachers can comment on specific behaviors that they wish to acknowledge. it focuses on improvement and efforts rather than evaluation of a finished product. And it uses sincere, direct comments delivered with a natural voice. It helps students develop an appreciation of their behaviors and achievements. Encouragement avoids competition or comparisons with others and it works toward self-satisfaction from a task or product.

1. As a teacher, do you correct students errors? 2. When do you correct – immediately after you notice an error? 3. How do you correct speaking errors? 4. How do you correct writing errors?

1. Attitudes towards errors 2. Categorising errors 3. When, how, and who to correct 4. Practical techniques for correcting speaking and writing errors

Are errors bad signs of learning? Why students make errors?

What are errors and what are mistakes? What kind of errors are most common among young learners in your context? Pronunciation, verb tense, word order, vocabulary, spelling, pragmatic …?

When to correct: Fluency-focused vs. accuracy-focused activities; global vs. local How to correct: direct vs indirect; individual differences Who to correct: self-correction, peer- correction, whole class-correction, and teacher-correction

On-the-spot correction Using body language Using a rising tone to repeat the wrong utterance Mouthing (Useful with pronunciation errors). Reformulation Student: I went in Scotland Teacher: Oh really, you went to Scotland, did you? Recasting using an emphasis on the error Delayed Correction- e.g. after a communication activity. Noting down errors and draw sts attention for correction Recording: play the recording to invite whole class correction Adapted from Rolf Donald, Error Correction 2

Students receive a number of sentences taken from their written work. Some are correct, some wrong. Students in groups have to identify the correct ones and correct the wrong ones. They have a limited amount of time. The team with the most correct sentences wins. Underline inappropriate language in a piece of writing using a specific colour. Or use a different colour to underline examples of appropriate language. Use codes in the margin to identify the type of error(s), for example, VOC = a lexical error. Students have to identify the error(s) and if possible make a correction. Alternatively put crosses in the margin for the number of errors in each line. Students then try to identify the errors and make corrections. Put students into pairs / groups. They correct each others work using one or more of the techniques above. Adapted from Rolf Donald, Error Correction 1

Great! Wonderful! Super! Brilliant! Fabulous! Terrific! Excellent! Amazing! Fantastic! Marvelous! Good, well done. Good boy/girl! You are wonderful today. You are smart. Very good! Not bad! Good idea! Very good, indeed. Thats fine. Yes, you did it ! Yes, you made it! You got it! Good/Nice job You did very well. Good work/try. Thats perfect! Thats lovely. Thats nice. Thats neat! Lets give him a big hand! Clap your hands! Youve done it much better this time. Youve made a lot of progress! Youve improved a lot! I hope you will do better next time. Take it easy. Dont worry. It doesnt matter. Dont be shy. Dont be afraid of making mistakes. Dont worry. Everyone makes mistakes. Thats OK. No one is perfect. Youve done your best. Good! Ill help you if you get stuck. Take a guess if you dont know. You can do it. Come on! Have a try. Take your time. Try it one more time. Ministry of Education, China (Forthcoming) The National English Curriculum for Nine-Year Compulsory Education (Revised Version). Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press.

1. We understand what feedback means in teaching 2. We understand how feedback to students can affect their learning 3. We have learnt some effective ways of giving feedback so students become better learners 4. We have learnt some useful feedback phrases in English

Dreikurs, R., Greenwald, B., and Pepper, F Maintanining Sanity in the Classroom: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES. New York: Harper & Row, Hitz, Randy and Driscoll, Amy Praise in the Classroom. ERIC: Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education Urbana IL. ED Donald, Rolf Error Correction rrect.shtml Ministry of Education, China (Forthcoming) The National English Curriculum for Nine-Year Compulsory Education (Revised Version). Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press.